Player Discussion Lars Eller

[txpd]

Best third line center I can remember

Halpern

 

[BobRouse]

Halpern

Meh...he had one or two good years and one of those was really driven by the wingers he played with that carried that line (Kono and Halpern)

When we had Pivonka/Ridley/Hunter one of those always had to be the 3C and it seemed to be fluid about which one was which depending on the coach at the time. I'd rate any of them higher than Halpern.

Gould was also decent and for a longer period.

I'd take Eller over Halpern.

 

[artilector]

Not sure yet about Eller. Of all the members of the magic 3rd line, I think he's the one that was least visible without the others, at least on offense. Although perhaps he was doing solid work quietly, dunno.

 

[Talks to Goalposts]

Eller has changed the complexion of this team and our 3rd line went from a liability to our top possession line.

The guy is simply a monster on the puck. Why Montreal decided he wasn't good enough for them is beyond me. Me and my buddy always thought he was noticeable when we played against that team.

His acquisition slotted Beagle perfectly and has allowed us to roll 4 lines regardless of the situation or opponent.

Montreal's coaching staff never valued puck possession play and seemed to want Eller to be a grinder and put him with grinders that never good do anything with the puck possession time he created for him. Eller isn't a grinder or a defensive specialist, he's a puck-possession/puck-carrying center.

It should have been obvious to them that the way to get the most out of Eller is to have him tilt the balance of play for his line to give offensive zone time and opportunities to skilled wingers. It seems Washington understands this, which is why they are getting more out of him.

 

[Lions999]

I think he's playing well, but his salary and the two 2's we gave up to get him are steep considering our looming cap crunch at the end of the year. It's hard to be too critical on trades where you pick up a quality guy because we have no idea who's available or what their cost might be, but though I like Eller a lot, I'm not convinced it was the best move we could have made.

Beagle was on pace for 15 goals when he got hurt last year, our win % dipped slightly while he was out, and the 3rd line was a solid part of our early-season success. Not sure why him being our 3C was a "problem" we needed to spend $3.5 million and two 2nd-rounders to fix.

Given Eller's performance thus far, it's not unreasonable to say that we could have picked up a cheaper option via trade or free agency that would have yielded similar results.

Montrealer here give him time he usually picks his game around the 40 game mark and you will be very happy with him the playoffs...

 

[BobRouse]

Montreal's coaching staff never valued puck possession play and seemed to want Eller to be a grinder and put him with grinders that never good do anything with the puck possession time he created for him. Eller isn't a grinder or a defensive specialist, he's a puck-possession/puck-carrying center.

It should have been obvious to them that the way to get the most out of Eller is to have him tilt the balance of play for his line to give offensive zone time and opportunities to skilled wingers. It seems Washington understands this, which is why they are getting more out of him.

Good points there. Therrien has always been one of those old school dump and chase/chip it out of the zone types.

The Caps under BMac have hired some advanced stat guys and have replaced poor/average possession players (Brouwer, Chimera, Richards, Laich and Ward) for good/excellent possession players (Williams, Oshie, Connolly, Eller and Winnik)

There is a systematic effort the Caps are making here and Eller is an excellent example of that.

 

[RandyHolt]

Good points there. Therrien has always been one of those old school dump and chase/chip it out of the zone types.

The Caps under BMac have hired some advanced stat guys and have replaced poor/average possession players (Brouwer, Chimera, Richards, Laich and Ward) for good/excellent possession players (Williams, Oshie, Connolly, Eller and Winnik)

There is a systematic effort the Caps are making here and Eller is an excellent example of that.

Good points here too.

I would be interested to see the advanced stat that best tracks individual possession, and a comparison done on those players.

Certainly one could use the eye test and conclude Oshie > Shankapotamus, but do the AS's support all 10 guys? My thinking, a pattern should emerge which could help us determine our next add, or subtraction.

I also wonder if a guy used in the wrong way, like Ellers, did his poss stats in Montreal still rise to the top even though he was a team first guy, and doing what was asked of him.

 

[BobRouse]

Good points here too.

I would be interested to see the advanced stat that best tracks individual possession, and a comparison done on those players.

Certainly one could use the eye test and conclude Oshie > Shankapotamus, but do the AS's support all 10 guys? My thinking, a pattern should emerge which could help us determine our next add, or subtraction.

I also wonder if a guy used in the wrong way, like Ellers, did his poss stats in Montreal still rise to top even though he was a team first guy, and doing what was asked of him.

I believe so! I am pretty sure ONLY Richards was an above water possession player (I'm too lazy to look and confirm all of them) of the ones going out. We all know how poor Brouwer, Laich and Chimera have been as we talked about them being poor for years.

The ones coming in I am sure are all above water possession players. Williams is/was one of the best in the league. Connolly has always been good. Oshie definitely above average. Eller was known for it despite being on some real poor possession teams coached by Therrien.

 

[artilector]

The one player mentioned I take exception to is Wardo. F'ing beast. I'm all for using stats to achieve victory and world peace, but even I think it would be crazy to punt a player like Ward on that basis.

Actually, I don't even think it's relevant -- Ward's playoff Corsi is fine. So, unlikely to be part of the thinking to let him go.

It's all f'ing McPhee and the Laich contract. And BMac's one mistake, if I recall the timing correctly, not to amnesty that contract. Laich probably did a great job selling him on his health, plus the whole leadership thing with Trotz coming in, plus fear of messing up right at the start.

But I digress. I think I need to watch Eller more. Aside from the overall crazy recent 3rd line chemistry, my eyes don't see the great possession player that metrics suggest. Solid, yes. Strong on the puck. But not overwhelming in any respect, no? Still, it's working, so I'm not complaining. Would be great if he can realize some of that offensive potential that (at one point) they were waiting for.

 

[BobRouse]

Ward was never a great possession player. Average perhaps.

But the big thing with him was that he was 34 years old and wanted a 3 year contract. Smart to move on from that.

 

[artilector]

Ward was never a great possession player. Average perhaps.

But the big thing with him was that he was 34 years old and wanted a 3 year contract. Smart to move on from that.

It's a valid concern. But it would've still been a "manageable" sort of risk, IMO... Much better than deciding to keep Laich around earlier, that's for sure.

 

[BobRouse]

It's a valid concern. But it would've still been a "manageable" sort of risk, IMO... Much better than deciding to keep Laich around earlier, that's for sure.

No one was taking Laich at that point or else you KNOW BMac would have pulled the trigger.

It came down to Williams for 2 years or Ward for 3 and that is a no brainer.

 

[artilector]

No one was taking Laich at that point or else you KNOW BMac would have pulled the trigger.

It came down to Williams for 2 years or Ward for 3 and that is a no brainer.

I was talking about the decision to not amnesty Laich. His health/performance at that point was a far greater risk, IMO, than what they were facing with re-signing Ward later. So if BMac was right to decline Ward out of these concerns, he certainly should've amnestied Laich, IMO.

I do agree with you that in the specific context of Ward vs. Williams, it was a good decision. And I sort of give BMac a pass on Laich, because it's understandable that he wanted to tread carefully, in terms of disruption, being a rookie GM.

 

[BobRouse]

I was talking about the decision to not amnesty Laich. His health/performance at that point was a far greater risk, IMO, than what they were facing with re-signing Ward later. So if BMac was right to decline Ward out of these concerns, he certainly should've amnestied Laich, IMO.

I do agree with you that in the specific context of Ward vs. Williams, it was a good decision. And I sort of give BMac a pass on Laich, because it's understandable that he wanted to tread carefully, in terms of disruption, being a rookie GM.

In the end Laich for Winnik was a huge win for us and allowed us to bring Eller on board too.

 

[Sperss1997]

Look at these graphs

http://hockeyviz.com/player/ellerla89/WSH/1617

All Ellers Graphs are pretty good, especially when you look at both sides of the coin (e.g shot with and shots without) Quite impressive to say the least. Some are elite as I see it. Take a look at how his linemates improve playing with him, its crazy.

I also think the graphs show why he doesnt produce more points. The chances the team gets with him on ice are below average when it comes to high danger shots. The team with him on ice allows a lot fewer high danger shots as well. You could argue that be doesnt sell any tickets

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

GWG in OT today. 10 goals and 15 assists barely halfway through the season.

Pretty good stats for someone who plays on the third line and doesn't get much PP time.

Well done Lars!

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

He is the main reason why the 3dr line was ALWAYS trashy. Put him with Crosby and McDavid and they will score 20 points in a season. He is a possession blackhole scoring lucky goals and empty neters. What a shame great players like Connolly, Burakovskiy or Panik played with him or are playing with him.

 

[txpd]

Ive been saying all season that Lars Eller is a beast. I realize that he has to be both beast and trash at the same time, but don't most beasts smell bad?

 

[hb12xchamps]

He is the main reason why the 3dr line was ALWAYS trashy. Put him with Crosby and McDavid and they will score 20 points in a season. He is a possession blackhole scoring lucky goals and empty neters. What a shame great players like Connolly, Burakovskiy or Panik played with him or are playing with him.

 

[twabby]

He is a possession blackhole

He's the Capitals best shot-share forward at 57%.

 

[txpd]

He's the Capitals best shot-share forward at 57%.

I took that as sarcasm

 

[twabby]

I took that as sarcasm

My sarcasm detector is in the shop.

 

[hb12xchamps]

It definitely isn't sarcasm. He has trashed Eller since he started posting here.

 

[crab]

My sarcasm detector is in the shop.

That shop is ripping you off then. He/she is serious

 

[DukeDog13]

He is the main reason why the 3dr line was ALWAYS trashy. Put him with Crosby and McDavid and they will score 20 points in a season. He is a possession blackhole scoring lucky goals and empty neters. What a shame great players like Connolly, Burakovskiy or Panik played with him or are playing with him.

This post gave me diarrhea.